きみの結びめ - Kimi no Musubime (Your Connection)
by aaom94
Summary: Rin and Chise grew up with fear of being abandoned, yet found love and companionship in monsters. Through a portal that has been gifted to them, they achieve to go to one another's world and a friendship is born from a unique connection. Meanwhile, new feelings from both a Demon and a Magus grow as they slowly begin to understand the charm and fragility of their human companions.
1. Hiraeth

**Important Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters mentioned from Ancient Magus Bride or Inuyasha.

 _ **Authors Note:**_ I'm very excited to introduce my first fanfiction! I've been dreaming of sharing my own story for years now, but never had the real guts to do it. Yet, there comes a moment when we have to let go of our fears and adventure into the unknown! This story is for you, my readers, and I truly hope you enjoy it.

As it is my first story, I ask only for a little compassion if you find mistakes, but please comment and feed me with constructive advice!

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Hiraeth**

 _Hiraeth_ , embracing it was the first curse of these two pure souls. To never return home, where their families were, because these had ceased to be due to unfortunate events. Both girls abandoned, rejected, victimized by horrible people that pushed them away. Little ones forced to envelop the solitude that the path of life had lead them to, yet unaware that before despair could snatch their fate, they'd be rescued. The first soul was Rin, ward of the great Inu Youkai, Lord of the West, and the second was Chise, bride of an Ancient Magus.

 _"_ _Please, find me."_ Rin turned around, but there was only fog. The heaviness of it impeded her to see beyond the grayness, yet she heard a voice echo through the mist. She had been walking for a long time, wandering in the silence unknowing where to go, or if there was anywhere to actually go to. Relief overcame her when finally she heard those words.

 _"_ _Who is speaking?"_ she asked shyly yet there was no response. Suddenly, the mist began to fade away and she could see a girl that appeared to have the same age as her, with red hair that reminded Rin of fire. Her clothes were strange though, and the only time she had seen those types of garments was whenever Kagome was around. Could this girl be from a different era such as Kagome? Her emerald eyes looked straight into Rin's brown orbs, but tears were coming out.

 _"_ _Help me_." pleaded the girl, _"My mother, she…"_ Rin's eyes widened, the little girl in front of her began to sob, _"I'm all alone now…my mom, she's gone forever."_ Rin ran towards the girl as fast as her own two little feet would allow her to _._

 _"_ _I'm coming!"_ she yelled, but as soon as she neared the image of the girl, the mist began to hide her once again, _"Wait! No! I want to help you!"_ but darkness filled everything up, drowning Rin's own body into an abyss of profound shadows.

Awakened by the fear of being consumed by nothingness, Rin jolted up from her laying position only to find Jaken snoozing next to her. A bubble was coming out of his right nostril, _"Gross"_ thought Rin, but she was relieved to know that the darkness in her dream hadn't been real. The day was chilly. It had rained all night, and now she could smell the petrichor. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with air, with _life_. She stood up and shivered, it was chillier than she thought.

"Rin." She turned quickly at the sound of her Lord's baritone voice, forgetting everything that had invaded her mind just minutes ago.

"Good morning Lord Sesshoumaru! Have you rested well?" She beamed at him with a smile from ear to ear, yet he merely glanced at her with his usual stoic expression.

"Rin, feed yourself quickly. We'll be leaving soon." He commanded.

"Yes milord!"

Even though his orders were said with an imperious tone, she knew that his instructions were intended to preserve her well-being. She was still a child and, as such, many things that she required for her own survival were forgotten due to her distracted mind and fascination with play and flowers in the fields. More than once had she forgotten to hunt for her food while she consumed the time Sesshoumaru would give her to make him crowns of flowers. Of course, being a prideful demon, he'd never allow her to place them on his head, but she was content with showing them to him. It was only until during one of their travels when her pace began to slow down, and a her stomach made a grumbling noise so loud that Sesshoumaru didn't even have to use his keen hearing to notice it that he warned her that her inability to feed herself would not be tolerated, and if she couldn't keep up he'd have to leave her in a human village. Rin had begged him to spare her from such a horrible fate, and promised to be more responsible. Of course, Sesshoumaru was far from actually leaving his ward in some undeserving human village, yet, he hadn't forgotten either the advice that the old woman Kaede had given him about Rin living with humans for a while. After the little incident though, his young companion began fending off for herself well enough, so he simply put that idea aside. He had more important things to worry about anyway.

Sesshoumaru stared for a moment as his small ward ran off to fetch her human food, and sighed silently to himself. _"How annoying"_ he thought. His ward's breathing had been uneven throughout the night, and she had tossed and turned several times during her sleep. Something about not knowing if something was haunting Rin in her dreams irritated him. It was even harder to determine if there really was a threat during her slumber when every time she'd awake she'd always speak to him with a joyful expression. _"Humans are so deceiving"._

 ** _Chise's Universe_**

Black. Everything was black, the suits were black, the umbrellas were black, and her entire world was now black. Chise's mother had tossed herself from their apartment window in order to escape madness and now the monsters that surrounded her were celebrating that she had been abandoned, and soon they would go after her.

"Chise, come now. It's time for us to leave."

The little girl looked up at her mother's sister with a lost expression in her eyes. _"Okaa san is gone…she's not coming back."_ She thought to herself.

Her aunt frowned at her, "I told you girl, it's time to go." she harshly said. "Why do you have to be such a strange child? Is it so hard for you to be normal!" she spat while grabbing onto Chise's arm and dragging her away. She had no strength to protest, instead, she looked back at her mother's grave and saw the hideous beings that always haunted her now hugging her mother's coffin as the workers threw it into the earth.

"NO!" She yelled out and pulled away. Her aunt growled and only tightened her grip on Chise's small arm, making her shriek in pain.

"Shut up you ungrateful brat! You're lucky we simply don't toss you out on the streets, if it weren't for the money you're mother left you'd be homeless by now! So stop yelling and get into the car!" and with a final drag she tossed Chise into the car.

 ** _"_** ** _Okaa san!"_** Chise banged on the window with her small fists as she witnessed with horrified eyes how more monsters went into the ground where her mother's coffin was. She pulled her knees to her chest and sobbed her heart out as the car drove away. She grew weary so quickly that she didn't even notice when she drifted off to sleep.

 _'_ _Wake up child.'_ Chise's eyes opened slowly, and widened once she realized that she was no longer in her aunt's car. In fact, she was no longer…anywhere. Fog surrounded her, filling her existence with a feeling of abandonment. Yet, something had told her to wake up, and now she couldn't see anything, or anyone.

 _"_ _Where am I?"_ she asked to herself out loud.

 _"_ _You are in the middle of everywhere and nowhere_ " said a voice into her left ear, it was so close that Chise shrieked but when she looked, nothing was there.

 _"_ _Who-WHO ARE YOU?"_ she yelled more out of fear than bravery, and the voice, this time closer but not as before, replied _"I am time, and right now you are in my infinity realm."_ Chise began to tremble, had a monster eaten her and this was what was left of her mind?

The voice spoke again, _"Child, you are an orphan now. You see beings that are unearthly who want your blood in their mouths, and there is nothing I can do to stop that. But, I will play with your fate a bit, and see to it that you discover that you are not the only one with such a strange destiny. I will make a time bridge, and you shall meet another like you."_

The fog opened a path to where another little girl with black hair was walking, looking as lost as Chise was. The little girl was wearing a kimono, with orange and yellow squares and was walking barefoot. The voice spoke again _"That girl is an ally of yours, although both of you have yet to discover why. Seeing that you are centuries apart, this world will be the time bridge that connects both of you."_ Chise stared at the girl, _"An ally?"_ she didn't even know what that meant. Even so, right now she could use a friend. It was probably the overwhelming loneliness she felt at the moment what made her talk; before she could stop herself she said the words out loud, _"Please, find me."_

 ** _Rin's Universe_**

The journey back to her Lord's empire was a long and tiring one, and despite being able to sit on Ah-Un's back most of the trip, Rin felt tired more than usual. Her mind had been mostly occupied with the images of that little girl she saw during last night's dream. It felt so strange to think that she had randomly dreamt with a person from a different era. It wasn't as if she was acquainted with a lot of people from a different time, the only person she had actually met from another world was Kagome chan. _"She looked so sad, and lonely. I remember feeling that way when bandits killed my family. I was so alone, and lost. Who could this girl be?"_ Rin was so carried away thinking about the lost look in the girls eyes that she wasn't paying attention to where she was heading, which didn't go unnoticed by Sesshoumaru.

They were reaching the end of the forest and beyond it were cliffs so high that travelers believed that below them laid the entrance to hell. Anyone who had ever tried to go down and discover what was under the clouds that covered the abyss below never returned, and now Rin was walking straight towards the border. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, "Rin."

She was so engulfed in her world of thoughts, that not even her master's voice broke her concentration, this time, Jaken yelled at her " **Stupid girl!** Can't you see you're going straight to the hole!?" Rin jumped startled from hearing the toad's reprimanding voice, and stopped right where she was. Normally, Rin was more attentive, but that dream had her mind so consumed that indeed, she **_hadn't_** noticed that one more step and she was going to be the one to verify for herself it the entrance to hell was below those clouds.

Ashamed of her strange conduct, she straightened herself and walked back, with her head down and bangs covering her eyes, she marched until she was standing next to Ah-Un.

Sesshoumaru frowned at her but buried his annoyance quickly, then he announced. "We're here."


	2. Diffidence

**Important Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters mentioned from Ancient Magus Bride or Inuyasha.

 _ **Authors Note:**_ One of the things I found in common between Chise and Rin was the scene in each anime where they're running from danger. I wanted to use that situation to create a link between them in this chapter. Let's see what happens next!

 **P.S.** I hope you are all enjoying the story!

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Diffidence**

 _Diffidence, it made them appear weak and vulnerable. They were both basically mute children anyway, never saying a thing to anyone, both hiding their fears deep within. How could they express their thoughts when those who were supposed to be "caring for them" were the main cause of their unresponsiveness and fear? Chise's relatives loathed her existence, and Rin also suffered the hate of the villagers for her. Those humans, who instead of protecting them, were the first to beat them; they had no problem with leaving the girls to starve, and constantly humiliated them for being orphans._

 _How could they_ _ **not**_ _be diffident? How could they possibly believe in their special souls after all the cruelness their own kind showed them? In the end, there is only so much a child can handle before losing faith in their self._

Green eyes looked at the happy family from behind a tree. She envied how the girl in the middle was giggling as her parents were lifting her up, and swinging her around, showing off the pretty dress she had. It was yellow, such a joyful color. The dress reminded Chise of the dandelions that released their petals in the wind during spring. How she missed those seasons next to her parents, especially the playtime with her little brother. Those moments were never coming back. Chise would never relive those memories because her parents had decided to abandon her. They _wanted_ to leave to live and, _**not live,**_ just to avoid her existence.

Was she such a terrible child that they preferred leaving her by herself? Why had they cared so little of where she would end up? Hadn't they felt guilty? _Apparently not_. It seems that it hadn't been an issue for her parents to leave her future in the hands of unloving relatives who only whispered among themselves of ways they could dump her on the streets without getting caught.

The worst part for Chise was the frequent visits of the monsters. They began to feast upon her fear a lot more than on her body. They were enjoying that she was unprotected and began to fool with her sanity with each passing day. She wished they would simply kill her and put an end to her loneliness, but they would simply impede her from sleeping and eating and then return days later, after her strange behavior caused her even more trouble with her family, in order to continue with their heinous games over her fragile mind.

True torture.

Now, all that there is to wonder is if one day somebody would want her broken soul.

 _ **Rin's Universe**_

"We're here."

Rin looked around and saw only the forest that they'd just walk out of and the border. Could it be that only demons could see her Lords castle?

"Rin."

If she couldn't see it, could she go in? Would she have a room? Was there room for a human like herself?

"Rin?"

Would there be servants and warriors? How would the weather be like?

"Rin!"

 _Uh oh._ Two brown doe eyes shot up and locked with two narrowed golden ones, but, as usual, it was Jaken who did the scolding.

"Dumb girl! What on earth is going on in that excuse of a head you have?!"

"I-I'm so sorry master Jaken!"

"Don't apologize to me _ningen_! Lord Seshoumaru doesn't have time for your human mistakes! He's summoning you! **GO!** "

Her anxious sprint towards her Lord caused her foot to trip on a stone that was in front of her, making her fall to the ground. Jaken growled out of annoyance.

Ashamed of another one of her _"human mistakes"_ (as Jaken put it) Rin began to feel tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. She heard his footsteps getting nearer. Rin squeezed her eyes and brought her arms to her face to occult the salty drops that were about to fall down her cheeks. She knew her Lord hated seeing weakness; he was probably going to leave her for good now. Instead, he knelt down and picked her up.

"Rin." He repeated. The girl opened her eyes slowly, and hiccupped. "Stop crying. This Sesshoumaru will not stand such an irritating behavior."

She swallowed whatever emotions she could and wiped her eyes quick. Her outside demeanor showed she was done crying, but he could still sense sadness from her. Nonetheless, he scooped her up and walked towards the border.

A strong wind began to blow from behind them, making her Lords hair flow above his shoulders, and cover both view of her sides.

"Prepare yourself Rin." Before she could understand what he meant, she felt the pull of gravity in the mouth of her stomach as they dropped into the cliff. She clutched on her Lord as tight as she could, and when she thought that the sensation in her body was fading away, another strong wind encircled their bodies and shot them back up to the sky. With the help of the wind they passed the clouds and jumped into the sky. From there, her Lord used his demonic power to take them even higher.

Rin found the strength to open her eyes. The view resembled that of a fantasy heaven, where the ground consisted of the clouds and the sky was a blanket of stars. It was by far the most beautiful view she had ever seen in her entire life. Her awe lasted shortly, for the air was getting too thick for Rin to breath. Sesshoumaru could sense her body running out of oxygen, but she would have to endure just a little bit more. _'Almost there.'_

Before fainting in her Lord's arms, Rin saw the scintilla of a light that transformed into the shape of a castle; _'How pretty…'_ was her last thought before she shut her eyes.

 _ **Rin's Dream**_

 _Sweaty palms, drenched forehead and heavy breathing. 'This dream again'. A dark red sky, snarls from blood thirsty wolves, tears falling down her cheeks. 'They're after me! They're going to eat me!' She ran, they chased._

 _Rin could feel the beasts behind her, nearing with each leap. She looked ahead, running as fast as she could. Her Lord, always appeared in her dream, but as a faraway image and would always walk away without a single glimpse her way. It was such a heart breaking scene._

 _Normally, this nightmare would end with her tripping and her horrified face turning to watch how several sharp teeth aimed at her neck, but surprisingly, to Rin's confusion, she kept on running, and she couldn't feel the ground anymore. Rin looked down, 'what are on my feet?' she was still escaping, but could no longer hear the cry of the wolves hunting her. Instead, she looked back and saw a deformed black figure rushing behind. Whatever it was, it had red eyes and huge teeth. Mirrors appeared between the trees that surrounded her, and she saw her reflection, but with the passage of a tree, she was no longer Rin but instead –_

' _The girl from my dreams!'_

" _Almost got you!" spoke the monster with a crackling voice, the words caused a deeper sense of panic in Rin than the wolves had. Ahead, there appeared to be a house, and without a single doubt she ran faster and faster, when her hand touched the handle it didn't turn, but right before the big blob of black could touch her, she managed to open the door and kicked it shut._

 _The monster crashed into the door and exploded into an animal that would haunt Rin's mind as much as wolves-_

" _Rats."_

 _ **Chise's Universe**_

Chise looked up and saw how all hundreds of rats scattered around the glass roof, squeaking wickedly. She was catching her breath when a hand on her shoulder caused her to leap away and corner herself between the wall and the door.

"Whoa whoa, it's okay. You're safe from them now." Said a man with brown hair and circle shaped glasses. "The rat spirit is gone, and even if it used all its power, it can't get in here."

She stared at him, still keeping her distance. He seemed human, but now she wasn't sure what to believe in.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Miura Riichi. I am the magician that takes care of the Library of the Forest. I'm glad you came to visit, nobody has been here in quite a while and well…books get lonely too." The man chuckled and scratched his head. He appeared to be a nice person. "What's your name little one?"

She took a long time to answer, but eventually whispered out her name. "Chise, I am Hatori, Chise."


	3. Aegis

**Important Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters mentioned from Ancient Magus Bride or Inuyasha.

 _ **Authors Note:**_ The word Aegis means protection, support. I wanted to reflect the meaning of this word in places where the characters felt protected or loved in.

 **P.S.** I'm so sorry for taking such a long time.

* * *

Beyond the clouds and beneath the bright full moon, a grand and magical castle floated. It was so hidden that only a few beings outside the Inu clan knew of it. Terrenal beings heard stories of the castle from men who swore it existed, but in the end, they all took the tale-tellers as lunatics.

The castle was an enormous traditional Japanese construction. Yet, the wood and stone it consisted of were not ordinary, they were from an unknown source. In fact, the entire fortress was a mystery.

No one within the Inu Clan knew exactly how this castle came to be and believed whatever the elders said. The most ancient dog demons claimed it had been a gift from the moon goddess to the first inu youkai that roamed the world.

Used as a bedtime story, maids would tell children of the Inu clan that, during a dark night, the moon goddess appeared as a human to the dog demon and that he, upon laying his eyes on her naked body and wonderous silver eyes, fell in love with her. The strange pair shared several nights together. But, so many moonless nights began to break the balance on earth and caused chaos.

The other gods upon finding out about this affair forbad the relationship between the youkai and the gods. They even threatened to kill the demon if the moon goddess didn't fulfill with her duties.

But the moon refused to abandon the love she felt for the dog demon and decided to build him a strong fortress. She worked hard on it during a full month and made sure to place it under her sight so that she could always protect his kind and have him close.

As proof of this love, in each generation of Inu Youkai, an heir would bear the mark of the moon on their forehead. As long as the mark existed, so would the castle.

Such a love story between an ancient ancestor and the moon interested the Lord of the West very little. Sesshoumaru wasn't one to believe in such things. But, he acknowledged that the castle was not an average youkai construction.

Its glowing architecture reflected royalty and power. The rooves were a light coal, and the wood was a rich white. The windows and doors were a live red with bordered carvings of flowers, painted with rich colors. On the tip of each roof, golden statues of Inu Youkai stood in a rather intimidating way. The edges of the rooves were painted with delicate lines of turquoise and gold, giving them a final touch.

Sesshoumaru had been gone for a very long time. At least for the last ten years. First, he had gone seeking Tetsaiga: the sword that his father had left his excuse of a brother. Then he had gone out of his way to defeat Naraku. After that, he roamed around the west ensuring its safety.

But the time to return and claim his place as heir and ruler of the Inu Clan had come, and the only way to reach the castle in the sky was falling into the canyon where the wind turned into tornados, giving him the push he needed to go back up.

Of course, to ensure that Rin would arrive safely he would have to carry her. Leaving her to hold onto Ah-Un's reigns would be futile.

Sesshoumaru didn't give her much time to understand what he was about to do. "Prepare yourself, Rin." was all he said before leaping into the depths with her in his arms.

The pressure had affected Rin just as he thought it would. Even though Rin fainted while they flew towards the castle he knew she wasn't going to die.

He would never risk her life again and promised her that she'd be safe as long as he was around. So when her lithe body gave out signals that she was about to lose consciousness, he held her close as a gesture that he would be there when she woke up.

Sesshoumaru heard her say that the castle was pretty before collapsing into nothingness and, for some strange reason, those innocent words made a sense of pride overcome him.

That pride grew more when he passed the waterfalls that cascaded around the circular border of the castle. They brought Sesshoumaru memories of when he was a pup. He remembered older inu children forcing him to swim as close as possible to the border. The challenge was to avoid falling off the edges and swimming back to the docks. Unfortunately, the current was so powerful that he fell and disappeared into the clouds below.

He smirked at the memory as he walked down the long passage that guided them to the entrance. Even though he ended up hating those older demons, he also thanked them. That incident led him to his first accomplishment as heir. Seconds after falling, Sesshoumaru managed to transform into his dog demon form. Not only was he capable of flying back home on his own, but he also became the youngest inu youkai to achieve such a thing.

Because of that, he had won his father's appraisal,

 _"I can see you're already on your path to become stronger than me, son."_ had been Toga's words.

Now, as he stood in front of the opening entrance where hundreds of Inu servants awaited their ruler, he could only think of how much more stronger he was than InuTaisho.

"Welcome back Lord Sesshoumaru." sang the servants as he stepped onto the shining glass floor.

He was, at last, home.

* * *

During the past couple of weeks, little Chise had gone daily to the library in the forest. The magical aura filled her with peace. She felt safe next to the librarian and entertained herself with books of all sorts. There was this particular book that narrated a love story between a demon and a goddess who couldn't be together. That same book also spoke of all the descendants of the demon and his clan's history. Apparently, it was a dog type of demon, but she was unfamiliar with its background.

Japanese culture had many tales and references about youkai. It all depended on the region one grew up in. Sometimes there were similar or different versions of a vast variety of demons. Where she was from, the most important youkai was the kitsune.

Her grandfather, a kind man who passed away much too soon, had even told her that she was the descendant of a very powerful fox demon and that was the reason behind her emerald eyes and red hair.

It made Chise feel rather important, seeing that it was uncommon to find Japanese women with hair and eyes that weren't dark.

Her impatient curiosity for the story made her skim through the pictures. It was when she reached one in particular that she widened her eyes and stopped.

"Chise?" The librarian was dusting the shelves. Normally the little girl would gasp and giggle while she read the books, but she had become suddenly silent. When he turned her way, he saw her clutching onto the books ends with her tiny hands while her eyes grew more open.

In the picture there was a beautiful man with white hair, gold piercing eyes and a moon mark on his forehead, sitting against the trunk of a cherry tree while observing a little girl who was playing with flowers. The girl was one Chise was far too familiar with for she had seen her before.

"Rin."

"What was that, Chise?" Miura walked over carefully and placed a hand on Chise's shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

"Her name." Chise looked at Miura, who had a worried face, "The girl from my dreams, her name is Rin."

Miura knelt down to get a closer look at the page Chise was pointing to. The girl from the drawing had more or less the same age as Chise. "You know this girl?" he asked gently.

Chise nodded fervently. Miura could read in her eyes that she was desperately begging him to believe her. He knew that she was a gifted child. She was rejected because she could see things that others couldn't and her gift up till today was only a burden, a living nightmare.

Apparently not only could she see magical creatures, but she also held some sort of connection with a person from the past.

How interesting.


End file.
